
If you remember three years ago I told you how customs and immigration to LEAVE Russia by the Trans Siberian Train into Mongolia was intense and way stronger than it…
Russia is by far the largest country in the world (totaling 1/8 of all Earth’s inhabited land) and is the 9th most populated. While 75% of the country is on the Asian continent, only 22% of the country’s population resides there. The other 78% live in the 25% part of the country on the European continent (which takes up 1/3 of the continent).
Let me try to put Russia’s size in prospective for you. My dad and I jumped 7 time zones flying from one end of the Trans-Siberian train at Vladivostok back to the beginning in Moscow. When my dad flew back to Kansas City from Moscow he only jumped eight times zones. This means the part of Russia we saw was only one time zone less than all of Europe, the entire Atlantic Ocean, and half of America combined……and there are two other time zones we did not get to!!!!
The country we know of as Russia started with the banding together of Slavic tribes from Eastern Europe. They accepted Orthodox Christianity from Byzantium in 867AD, but were decentralized due to the Mongol invasion of the 13th and 14th centuries. Finally, in the mid 1400’s Ivan the Great reunited the Russian people and took the double headed eagle as his symbol (eventually being adopted as the Russian symbol).
By the end of Ivan the Terrible’s rein towards the end of the 16th century the country had amassed most of the land it owns today and the Tsar’s started ruling. This is all fine and dandy, but it was not until Peter the Great formed the Russian Empire in 1721 that it became a world power. He modernized the country and based it on the empires of western Europe. This continued through his granddaughter Catherine the Great all the way until 1917 when Nicholas II and his family were slaughtered during the Russian Revolution.
Lenin, and then Stalin, led the communist based Red Army as the USSR grew to encompass much of Eastern Europe, after WW2 and through the Cold War, behind the Iron Curtain. Starting at the end of 1991 the Soviet Empire collapsed and the country was thrown into turmoil. The good news is that Russia is growing and thriving as a democracy and free market.
My first visit to Russia was in September of 2016 with the goal of taking my father on the Trans-Siberian train. Before we boarded we visited several of the European cities. Our first stop was three nights in St Petersburg (named after Saint Peter and not Peter the Great who founded the city in 1703) where we visited The Hermitage (Winter Palace), Peter & Paul Fortress, Russian Museum (art museum also), Peterhof (summer palace), and several smaller places.
We then took the Red Arrow (luxurious overnight train) to Moscow where we stayed another three nights. Here we spent time at St Basil Cathedral, Red Square, The Kremlin, the State Museum, and Tagansky Protected Command Point (soviet era nuclear bunker).
A painting of the lost Amber Room
We also spent a day in Vladimir and another day in Suzdal before boarding the Trans-Siberian train. We rode the train for four and half days to Mongolia where we spent a week. We then took a 36-hour train back to Russia and disembarked in Irkutsk near Lake Baikal. Before we saw anything, We flew to Yakutsk in central Siberia so we could visit the Lena Pillars on the Lena River (11th longest river in the world). Once we flew back we explored Irkutsk, Listvyanka, and Lake Baikal before another three-day train to the end of the line in Vladivostok. We finished with a day exploring Vladivostok (the San Francisco of Russia) before flying out of the country by way of Moscow.
Since the visa I got for the trip with my father was a three year, multi-entry one, I visited Russia again in August 2019 in order to spend several days in the Kaliningrad Oblast to explore the city, see where 90% of all the worlds amber comes from, and travel up the Curonian Spit and leave via Lithuania. The interesting thing about Kaliningrad Oblast is that it is the only part of Russia removed from the rest of the country.
I am very happy with the itinerary I came up with and feel like it gave us the best chance of seeing as much of Russia as possible. There was nothing that I wish we did not see. With that said, my favorite city was tiny (10,000 people) Suzdal with the earthen kremlin, churches, and monasteries. In St Petersburg, The Hermitage lived up to the hype that I had bestowed on it as one of the top 5 art museums in the world. I also loved walking around the city center at night and seeing all the buildings and bridges lit up. My favorite things in Moscow had to be St Basil’s Cathedral and the nuclear bunker (if you can imagine the surrealism of being an American in a Soviet era nuclear bunker). Vladimir has the Golden Gate, Lake Baikal the seals, Vladivostok a submarine museum, Kaliningrad the amber, and the Curonian Spit nature.
About the only thing I disliked was the “1st class” train to Mongolia. The problem was that it was a Mongolian car and it sucked (I have no other way to say it). The other trains we took were quite nice and comfortable. Traveling across the country by rail was a worthy experience for my dad and I.
The three biggest recommendations I have is to first have patience with the visa process. Russians love their bureaucracy! The process is quite simple, 1)get an invitation letter, 2)fill out the application online, and 3)send in your letter, application, and passport to the embassy. I used TraVisa to help me with the visa process and I highly recommend you spend the extra money and have them help.
The second recommendation is more of a heads up. You must register in each new city you visit. We never had to do anything, because our hotel took care of it. BUT, they charged us $7-15 each to do this. There is no way to argue against it, and I am sure the hotel is making some money on it, but just don’t be surprised when they ask for money for it.
The final recommendation is to have a copy of the Russian alphabet and the Russian spelling of subway and train stations. Google maps works great in Russia, but it will give you the names of stops in English. This does you no good since the Russian name looks nothing like the English name and nothing is in English.
You can get even more helpful hints by reading what all we did during our time in Russia in my blog posts below.
If you remember three years ago I told you how customs and immigration to LEAVE Russia by the Trans Siberian Train into Mongolia was intense and way stronger than it…
The cathedral sits on an island in the middle of Kaliningrad’s historic center. Today all the island has is the cathedral and a large park, but in the past the…
The Museum Bunker is a museum at the former headquarters of the local German command during the battle to capture the city at the end of World War 2. The…
Given that 90% of all amber in the world comes from Kaliningrad it is only fitting there is a museum dedicated to the gem. The museum is located with in…
Even though Kaliningrad was bombed heavily during World War 2 (then a German town known as Königsberg) many of fortifications from the mid 1800’s still exist. I read there are…
The Museum of the World Ocean is a maritime museum based along the river in the historic center of Kaliningrad. It was established on April 12, 1990 for scientific research…
Kaliningrad, Russia was once the East Prussian capital Königsberg. It only became part of Russia at the end of World War 2, when the Soviet Union expelled all Germans and…
Having caught up on sleep from the long flight over to Kaliningrad, Russia I was ready to get out and explore the city. I had a basic understanding of the…
At the beginning of August I landed in Kaliningrad, Russia, but had no rubles and the airport had no exchange office. Lucky for me the taxi and dinner took credit…
On August 2nd I landed in Kaliningrad, which is a little section of Russia separated from the main land by Poland to the south and Lithuania to the north, plus…
If you are ever flying in Eastern Europe and as soon as the plane touches down everyone erupts into applause then there is a good chance you are on a…
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We will be talking about Mongolia, Russia, and the Trans-Siberian Train in this podcast as my dad joins me to talk about the month long trip we took in 2016….
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We will be talking about Russia and the Trans-Siberian Train in this podcast as my dad joins me to talk about the month long trip we took in 2016. In…
Today is the last blog about my trip through Russia with my father and I wanted to leave you with a few random thoughts we had throughout our trip. There…
Here we are inside the C56 submarine museum and my dad is trying to launch me out the torpedo tube. This is the thanks I get for organizing a month…
As you saw on yesterday’s “photo of the day”, my favorite thing to see in Vladivostok was the C56 submarine. Make sure to check out tomorrow’s “POTD” if you want…
Today’s “photo of the day” is of the C56 submarine museum in Vladivostok. I will write all about this fun site tomorrow, so please come back and see for yourself….
This bridge connects the different sides of Vladivostok, the eastern terminus of the Trans-Siberian train. I wrote about out time in this city, which is home to the Russian Pacific…
Today is our last full day in Russia and we spent it with our friend Steve, who we met in Mongolia, exploring the city of Vladivostok. Why here? Because this…
On our last day aboard the Trans-Siberian train we made a quick 15 minute stop. Would you believe this was one of the few times my dad did not want…
After dad and I visited the cites of Yakutsk, Irkutsk, and Listvyanka we boarded the Trans-Siberian train once more. This time for three and a half days to the eastern…
Yesterday I told you about the magical day we had in Listvyanka on the shore of Lake Baikal. Today I simply wanted to share with you a typical fall day on…
A friend we met on the Trans-Siberian train took my dad and I from Irkutsk to Listvyanka on the bus today. I am sure you read on Thursday how I…
So, when my dad and I were in Yakutsk, which is in the middle of Siberia about 500 miles south of the Arctic Circle, we saw lots and lots of…
We might not need an ice breaker in the Caribbean, but they do need one on Lake Baikal here in Siberia. If you want to learn more about today’s “photo…
Maybe I was worn out, but the day and a half my dad and I spent in Irkutsk was not my favorite time in Russia. Don’t get me wrong, this…
Yesterday I wrote how my dad and I took an hour long boat ride up the Lena River, here in Siberia. We did this in order to visit the Lena…
Here we are several hours outside of Yakutsk, Russia at the Lena Pillars. You may be asking yourself why are we here and where exactly is here anyways. Let’s start…
We were on a hill south of Yakutsk, in the middle of Siberia, overlooking the huge Lena River. Of course I was taking photos and thought I had some good…
My dad and I made it back into Russia after our 9 hours crossing the border from Mongolia (you did read about that back on Nov 10th, right?). I hope…
Since my dad and I are using the Trans-Siberian train to travel between Moscow to Mongolia and then back to Russia to continue our eastward adventure, we had to clear…
What was life aboard the Tran-Siberian train (TST) like for my father and I? Well let me share some insights into our life’s, those four and a half days between…
During my father’s and I’s five days aboard the Trans-Siberian train we got lots of photos of the scenery, but I waited until we were on a turn so I…
Here my dad and I are riding the Trans-Siberian train for four and a half days from Moscow to Mongolia and there is zero wi-fi on the train. I know…
This entire “Planes, Trains, & Automobiles World Tour” started with the idea of riding the Trans-Siberian train (TST) across Russia with my dad for his 70th birthday. Since I went…
All Aboard!!! The Trans-Siberian train is heading out. My dad joined me as we spent five days traveling to Mongolia and yesterday was the first blog of this adventure. Tomorrow…
For the second half of the fifth leg of my “Planes, Trains, & Automobiles World Tour”, I took my dad on the Trans-Siberian train all the way across Russia. Many…
Yesterday you read all about my dad and my’s time in Suzdal, Russia, well today I want to share my favorite acrylic sheet with you as the “Photo of the…
Today my father and I took a bus from Vladimir to Suzdal, in Russia, to see this World Heritage site. Immediately upon arrival we can feel the difference in this…
Yesterday I told you about the day my father and I spent in Vladimir, Russia and today I want to share my favorite photo from the museum in the Church…
My dad and I got into Vladimir in the evening after taking a two hour train from Moscow, so all we really did was check into the hotel and go…
Today is mine and my dad’s final day in Moscow and we chose to head back to the Red Square, which is the parade ground on the side of the…
I was so excited to see St Basil Cathedral, because every time I hear about the Kremlin or Moscow I see pictures of this amazing and colorful church. If you…
On our 3rd day in Moscow I wanted to do something away from the Kremlin (blogged about two days ago) and the Red Square (blog coming in two days) and…
I like the memorial we have in Washington, DC dedicated to the unknown soldiers and I am happy to tell you Russia also has one just outside the Kremlin in…
Today is mine and my dad’s second day in Moscow and we plan on spending it all in the Kremlin. If you are like me, you may have heard of…
I can’t believe I was able to capture these two birds as well as I did. They were just going about their business as they hopped along from bush to…
Today we arrived in Moscow via the overnight train, Red Arrow. As I said on Thursday, this ride was fabulous and we were bummed to have slept most of the…
This city was meant to be photographed at night with all the lights and colors. I mean did you see the POTD on Monday? Talk about lighting!!!! Here we have…
You can read about the fort if you go back to the blog from Sunday, but here is a picture of the alter itself. If you do go back you…
Today is my and my dad’s last day in St Petersburg, so we paid to join a tour group to Peterhof, the summer palace of Peter the Great. I know…
Tomorrow I will write about Peterhof itself, but today I want to share the main fountain with you as my “Photo of the Day”. If you want to see other…
Today is the second day with my dad in St Petersburg and I am so excited to visit the Winter Palace (FYI, it is closed on Mondays), which is also…
This is the Church of the Nativity and this photo has captured my heart. I love everything about it including the lighting, color, and clouds. In order to capture this…
I met my dad in St Petersburg, Russia to start the fifth leg of my “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles World Tour”. It started off with a hiccup since I showed…
As American citizens we are lucky in the fact that of the 196 countries in world we do not need visas in advance of our arrival for 174 of them….
Here it is in the morning and I still have things to do. Do I have a deadline to get them done by? You bet I do since I I…